LTER: Georgia Coastal Ecosystems-II

乔治亚州海岸生态系统（GCE） LTER计划于2000年建立，位于乔治亚州中部海岸。研究领域包括三个相邻的声音（Altamaha, Doboy, Sapelo），包括高地（大陆，堰洲岛，沼泽吊床），潮间带（淡水，咸淡水和盐沼）和水下（河流，河口，大陆架）栖息地。这种复杂景观的模式和过程在空间上和地点之间存在差异，在时间上也存在多种尺度（潮汐、日、季节和年际）。覆盖在这种时空变化之上的是气候变化、海平面上升和人类对景观的改变所造成的长期趋势。这些长期趋势可能以许多方式表现出来，包括整个河口景观的水质、河流流量、径流和潮汐淹没模式的变化。GCE项目的总体目标是了解淡水和咸水的质量、来源和数量的变化导致河口生境和过程时空变化的机制，以预测河口盐度模式长期变化所带来的方向性变化。当前项目周期的目标是：1)继续记录对沿海地区的环境强迫的长期模式；2)将环境强迫与观测到的生物地球化学过程、初级生产、群落动态、分解和扰动的时空模式联系起来；3)研究河口纵向（淡水-咸水）轴和横向（高地-潮下）轴上的环境梯度驱动生态系统变化的潜在机制；5)探讨幼虫运输和成虫环境条件在河口纵向和垂直梯度上的群落和遗传结构的相对重要性。为了实现这些目标，研究人员利用了一套方法，包括长期监测非生物驱动因素和生态系统响应；操纵实验和自然实验，使我们能够检查关键生态系统驱动因素的重要性；和建模。GCE外展的目标是提高教师和学生，沿海管理人员和公众对格鲁吉亚沿海生态系统的科学理解。GCE校园项目是建立在与教育工作者长期接触和指导的基础上的，迄今已有40名教师参与。在大学阶段，本科生和研究生都经常被纳入我们的工作，一些研究者已经将普通教育证书研究纳入课堂。为了接触沿海管理者，科学家们与乔治亚海岸研究委员会（GCRC）合作，通过促进科学家和管理者之间的信息传递，促进乔治亚海岸资源的科学管理。GCRC有来自9所大学、6个联邦机构和4个州和地区机构的代表。它举办讲习班，协助管理机构进行科学评估，并分发关于沿海问题的资料。为了接触公众，GCE的科学家们定期参加公众会议和研讨会，并与乔治亚海岸的非营利组织合作，解决公众感兴趣的问题。其他科学家和公众可以通过网站（http://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/lter/）访问GCE-LTER项目收集的数据，该网站使用最先进的信息系统来管理和显示有关研究地点、研究、分类、数据集、出版物和项目管理的信息。

The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems (GCE) LTER program, located on the central Georgia coast, was established in 2000. The study domain encompasses three adjacent sounds (Altamaha, Doboy, Sapelo) and includes upland (mainland, barrier islands, marsh hammocks), intertidal (fresh, brackish and salt marsh) and submerged (river, estuary, continental shelf) habitats. Patterns and processes in this complex landscape vary spatially within and between sites, and temporally on multiple scales (tidal, diurnal, seasonal, and interannual). Overlain on this spatial and temporal variation are long-term trends caused by climate change, sea level rise, and human alterations of the landscape. These long-term trends are likely to manifest in many ways, including changes in water quality, river discharge, runoff and tidal inundation patterns throughout the estuarine landscape. The overarching goal of the GCE program is to understand the mechanisms by which variation in the quality, source and amount of both fresh and salt water create temporal and spatial variability in estuarine habitats and processes, in order to predict directional changes that will occur in response to long-term shifts in estuarine salinity patterns. The objectives of the current project cycle are 1) to continue to document long-term patterns of environmental forcing to the coastal zone, 2) to link environmental forcing to observed spatial and temporal patterns of biogeochemical processes, primary production, community dynamics, decomposition and disturbance, 3) to investigate the underlying mechanisms by which environmental gradients along the longitudinal (freshwater-saltwater) and 4) lateral (upland-subtidal) axes of estuaries drive ecosystem change, and 5) to explore the relative importance of larval transport and the conditions of the adult environment in determining community and genetic structure across both the longitudinal and vertical gradients of the estuary. To meet these objectives, the investigators utilize a suite of approaches including long-term monitoring of abiotic drivers and ecosystem responses; manipulative and natural experiments designed to enable us to examine the importance of key ecosystem drivers; and modeling. The goal of GCE outreach is to enhance scientific understanding of Georgia coastal ecosystems by teachers and students, coastal managers, and the general public. The GCE schoolyard program is built around long-term contact and mentoring of educators, and has involved 40 teachers to date. At the college level, both undergraduate and graduate students are routinely incorporated into our work, and several investigators have integrated GCE research into the classroom. To reach coastal managers, the scientists partner with the Georgia Coastal Research Council (GCRC) to promote science-based management of Georgia coastal resources by facilitating information transfer between scientists and managers. The GCRC has representation from 9 Universities, 6 Federal agencies, and 4 State and regional agencies. It hosts workshops, assists management agencies with scientific assessments, and distributes information on coastal issues. To reach the general public, GCE scientists routinely participate in public meetings and workshops, and partner with non-profit organizations on the Georgia coast to address questions of public interest. Data collected by the GCE-LTER project can be accessed by other scientists and the general public via the website (http://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/lter/), which uses a state-of-the-art information system to manage and display information on study sites, research, taxonomy, data sets, publications, and project administration.